Czech leader: country needs to set date for adopting euro

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says his country will need to set a date for adopting the euro, the common European currency, following the presidential election in France and the forthcoming ballot in Germany.

The country is officially committed to join the euro but the previous governments as well as the current center-left coalition government led by Sobotka’s Social Democrats have set no target date.

Sobotka says he expects that with Emmanuel Macron as France’s president and after September’s election in Germany, his country might find itself on the periphery of the EU.

He said Tuesday: “Sooner or later, we will have to answer a question…when we will be able to adopt the current European currency?”

Sobotka said the right time for such a debate will be October’s parliamentary election.